Si Ma Gui looked at Song Ran.

The latter nodded slightly, confirming that the environmental survey experts had verified recent human activity in the area.

"What do we do now? Mr. Mu, please give us direction. The boss has been unconscious for two days. To prevent his physical functions from weakening, we must resolve this as soon as possible," Song Ran said.

"It's simple. This place is an ancient tomb with many dangers. I tried to enter before, but it didn't work; I was forced back. Therefore, you need to completely clear the Jackal's Den!"

Mr. Mu said seriously.

"He Bing is likely living in the Jackal's Den. We've checked, and the most recent human activity was an hour ago, meaning He Bing is likely still inside. So... everyone, if we want Mr. Sindela to wake up, we must capture He Bing as soon as possible, ask him about the escape method, and then retrieve the Blue Book!"

"Then let's begin," Song Ran said in a deep voice.

Clearing a hole was nothing to them.

Without another word, the group donned their equipment and slowly entered the Jackal's Den.

However, none of them noticed the strange glint that flashed in Mr. Mu's eyes.

A short time later.

Bang bang bang bang!

Gunshots suddenly echoed from inside the cave, followed by screams on the walkie-talkie.

"What is that!? What's attacking us!?"

"Watch out behind you!"

"Lights! Shine the lights!"

Amidst the screams, the first group of explorers fired their guns repeatedly, seemingly under attack by some creature.

Soon, after a dozen seconds.

The walkie-talkie went completely silent.

The company supervisor in charge of dispatching shouted loudly into the walkie-talkie, but there was no response.

"What's going on!? What's inside there!?" Song Ran glared at Mr. Mu, her expression grim.

Six-man teams, all elite woodland explorers hired by the company, were wiped out in less than a minute from the moment of the attack.

What did that mean?

"It should be He Bing's self-preservation measures. Surviving in a dead zone for so long, did you think he was a harmless ordinary person?" Mr. Mu said coldly.

"Then use explosives!" Song Ran said, her face pale.

"No! The Blue Book has a prototype; what if it's inside? Are you going to be responsible for destroying it!? Do you still want your boss to wake up?" Mr. Mu shouted, stopping her.

"Send in the cyborgs! Equip them with full-body exoskeletons!" He turned to the two half-cyborgs sent by the company.

"It's too dangerous inside; the original price doesn't count." The two looked at Song Ran.

"Double it!" Song Ran said through gritted teeth.

"Not enough." The two shook their heads.

"Send in robots first!" A survey expert beside her reminded.

"Okay!" Song Ran immediately reacted, nodding vigorously.

*

*

*

Li Cheng颐 stood at the entrance of the Wolf Cave, closing his eyes and sitting cross-legged.

Soon, a faint sense of dizziness flashed through his mind.

He knew it was coming.

He slowly opened his eyes.

He was still standing at the entrance of the Wolf Cave.

But the mountain cave in front of him seemed somewhat different from before.

The pitch-black cave was no longer completely dark but projected a faint blue light.

Li Cheng颐 turned around and glanced behind him.

Looking down from the high ground, the mountain forest behind him was shrouded in a faint gray mist.

The Yunshan County urban area was vaguely visible in the distance.

But as far as Li Cheng颐 could see, the urban area was deserted. The buildings and houses looked as if they had been built for decades or even centuries, old and dilapidated.

"Brother... this place... is so cold." Iselin's voice came from behind him.

Li Cheng颐 was stunned and remembered that he had brought a dark Iselin with him.

White Iselin remained inside the Tight Grip Hand dead zone.

He turned around and saw that Iselin was wearing a black lace princess dress and a black wide-brimmed hat, looking exquisitely cute and mysterious.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"There." Iselin pointed to the distant Yunshan County urban area. "It's very cold there. It feels similar to some high-danger dead zones."

"Are you saying the entire Yunshan County urban area is a dead zone?" Li Cheng颐 asked, focusing on the key point.

Dark Iselin spoke Yi-Nation language, making communication much easier than before.

She nodded.

"It does seem very similar, but I'm not sure. I've never been here before."

"What about behind us?" Li Cheng颐 turned back, looking at the Wolf Cave.

"Behind us..." Dark Iselin looked at the Wolf Cave, also noticing the faint blue light inside. "This... feels even stranger."

Her small face furrowed.

"The aura is very mixed—cold, hot, putrid, and fragrant, a chaotic mix of smells... I don't recommend you go inside, Brother."

"Then should I go out and explore the county town outside?" Li Cheng颐 asked.

Dark Iselin likely knew more about dead zones than he did.

"No, neither is possible. The place we're standing is the only place connected to reality. Going forward or backward will lead into another dead zone," Dark Iselin shook her head.

"Which is more dangerous? Can you sense it?" Li Cheng颐 asked.

"." Dark Iselin closed her eyes. After a few seconds, she pointed decisively towards the county town.

"There, it's very dangerous! It's safer to go into the cave."

This answer surprised Li Cheng颐.

The Wolf Cave in front of him looked like an extremely dangerous dead zone, while Yunshan County, which he had just come from, didn't feel like a dead zone at all.

Otherwise, he might have flashed into it on the way.

But now... Dark Iselin actually said the county town was more dangerous.

That was strange.

"That's a fused dead zone, and there are obvious signs of guidance. It only appears at specific times; it seems man-made," Dark Iselin replied.

Although she looked small, she actually had the mind of an adult in her several tens of years old, having all the memories of her dark history. Only White Iselin retained her former fragmented memories, retaining her original innocence.

"You know about fused dead zones too?" Li Cheng颐 said.

"Yes. The size of this dead zone is uncertain. I remember everything the other me experienced under the bed," Dark Iselin nodded. "The fusion of dead zones requires many specific conditions and common points."

Li Cheng颐 understood. But the purpose of his trip was to investigate the cause of the boss's coma and find the Blue Book the boss had read, so he didn't have time to deal with the secrets of Yunshan County for now.

"We'll go into the cave first."

He looked at the Wolf Cave in front of him, lifted his foot, and stepped into the darkness.

Dark Iselin glanced back at the county town in the gray mist in the distance and also transformed into a black shadow, merging into Li Cheng颐's shadow.

The cave was dark, with only a faint blue light illuminating a bit of the outline.

The ground was steep, covered with piles of stones of various sizes.

There was no path, so he could only walk inside by stepping on the stones.

The cave walls on both sides were layers of rock strata like pages of a book. Under the blue light, the textures on these rock strata looked like countless blue worms wriggling and deforming.

Coupled with the increasingly cold environment, even Li Cheng颐, who was covered by the Light Domain, felt a chill.

Following the curves of the cave, he walked inside for a few minutes.

Soon, an oval pool of water glowing with blue light appeared in his view.

The pool was about three meters wide and four meters long, shaped like an egg, embedded in the ground.

The faint blue water inside surged continuously, rippling in the breeze.

"This is the Blue Pond," Li Cheng颐 whispered.

"What is Brother looking for?" Dark Iselin asked from behind.

"The Blue Book," Li Cheng颐 replied.

"The Blue Book? That's" Dark Iselin's expression suddenly changed before she could finish speaking.

"Be careful, Brother!!"

Boom!!

As soon as she finished speaking, the entire Blue Pond began to spin rapidly. A huge pulling force dragged everything around it, attracting it all toward it.

The air twisted, and the stones on the ground trembled.

Li Cheng颐 almost flew up, but luckily, he stabbed a golden sword into the ground in time, holding himself in place.

But the force was still strong, constantly dragging half of his body towards the Blue Pond, even lifting him off the ground.

Fortunately, the attraction did not last long, and it gradually subsided after only a few dozen seconds.

Li Cheng颐 pulled the golden sword out of the ground, stood up, and exhaled.

"That was close."

"Brother, there are so many words appearing on the wall!" Dark Iselin's voice quickly brought him back to reality.

Looking up, Li Cheng颐 took out his phone to turn on the light, but the phone was completely unresponsive.

The technological suppression in this dead zone was obviously very high.

Or rather, it shouldn't be called suppression, but the different underlying rules caused such precise devices as technological items to completely fail.

The two could only use the faint blue light to check the marks on the surrounding walls.

At this time, reminded by Dark Iselin, Li Cheng颐 really saw that after the Blue Pond exploded, rows of head-sized words appeared on the surrounding walls.

But these words were not a language he recognized at all.

"What are these words?" He tried to ask Dark Iselin.

"This is Black Sea Script," Dark Iselin replied. "The dead zones are very, very large, countless, but some of them can communicate with each other. They jointly created the Black Sea Script for communication."

"Do you know it?" Li Cheng颐 suddenly realized that Dark Iselin seemed to be a treasure, a treasure who knew a lot about dead zones.

"I know a little. I learned some when I was bored," Dark Iselin nodded. "Brother, don't have any hope for me, and don't have any hope for individuals in the dead zones that might be able to communicate. Many of them are not human, have no emotions, and some even behave strangely and are completely incomprehensible. Being able to speak doesn't mean they can communicate. You can't even understand their form of existence."

"Can you describe it?"

"Maybe I'll have a chance later. Let me see what's written here first..." Dark Iselin approached the cave wall, carefully checking it with the blue light.

The head-sized characters looked like they were written with charcoal, exuding a rough and primitive atmosphere.

"It seems to be information about the Blue Book," she read with some difficulty.

"The Blue Book!?" Li Cheng颐's spirits lifted. He walked behind Dark Iselin, waiting for her to continue interpreting.

"Record marks with blood"

"Record text with dreams"

"Record sounds with the body"

"Record gods with the book."

"With ninety-nine lives, you can unlock the Blue Book's text lock, obtain the Black Sea Sacrificial Text! Obtain the opportunity to communicate with and make wishes to the gods in the Black Sea!"

"Wait, wasn't the Blue Book written by Wu Guangcheng a hundred years ago?" Li Cheng颐's expression became serious.

"I don't know... but there's a name recorded here at the end. The original name of the Blue Book is 'Blue Dream Mountain Master's Alien Knowledge Records,'" Dark Iselin read the original name at the end.

(End of this chapter)